Mrs. Sperry is a 45-year-old woman who works in a busy outpatient clinic. She confides in you about how she is overwhelmed and needs support in her role because patients often get angry with her when waiting too long. Mrs. Sperry reports her supervisor told her to "suck it up." She reports feeling helpless and unsupported in her job. Mrs. Sperry is at increased risk for which common work-related musculoskeletal complaint?

Question

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Low levels of job satisfaction, the perception of an intensified workload, and work that is viewed as monotonous have been linked to a variety of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (Erez, 2008). However, the two psychosocial factors that are most consistently linked to poor health symptoms are a lack of job control and poor social supports. Wahlstedt, Norback, Wieslander, Skoglund, and Runeson (2010) found that workers who had a strained or passive work situation, in which they perceived high work demands and low control over their work environment, had an increased incidence of neck, shoulder, and upper-back symptoms. In addition, women exhibited more of these symptoms than their male counterparts in the workforce. Low-back symptoms were found to be statistically more common in workers who had low social supports when this was combined with passive work situations. Finally, health-care workers who identified low job control, effort-reward imbalance, and low social supports demonstrated higher rates of musculoskeletal pain (Bernal et al., 2015). Although it is unclear exactly how psychosocial factors contribute to physical dysfunction, some theories include a resultant increase in muscle tension related to the mental stress, changes in postures and sustained positions related to workload and perceived deadlines, and generalized worry or fatigue (Erez, 2008).

Mrs Sperry Is a 45-Year-Old Woman Who Works in a Busy